Where Night Is Day: The World of the ICU

The Culture and Politics of Health Care Work

By: James Kelly

Narrated by: Sean McElhiney

Where Night Is Day is a nonfiction narrative grounded in the day-by-day, hour-by-hour rhythms of an ICU, in a teaching hospital, in the heart of New Mexico. It takes place over a 13-week period, the time of the average rotation of residents through the ICU. It begins in September, and ends at Christmas. It is the story of patients and families, suddenly faced with critical illness, who find themselves in the ICU. It describes how they navigate through it, and find their way. James Kelly is a sensitive witness to the quiet courage, and resourcefulness of ordinary people.

Kelly leads the reader into a parallel world: The world of illness. This world, invisible but not hidden, not articulated by, but known by the ill, does not readily offer itself to our understanding. In this context, Kelly reflects on the nature of medicine and nursing, on how doctors and nurses see themselves, and how they see each other. Drawing on the words of medical historians, doctor-writers, and nursing scholars, Kelly examines the relationship of professional and lay observers, to the meaning of illness, empathy, caring, and the silence of suffering. Kelly offers up an intimate portrait of the ICU, and its inhabitants.

The book is published by Cornell University Press. The audiobook is published by University Press Audiobooks.

©2013 Cornell University (P)2022 Redwood Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"A must read for all nursing and medical students. Highly recommended." (Choice)

"This revealing personal account blends the day-to-day drama of life in the ICU with a fascinating history of medicine, hospitals, nursing, and intensive care...." (Health Affairs)

"An exhilarating and humbling depiction of nursing in the 21st century." (Arthur W. Frank, author of The Wounded Storyteller)

WONDERFUL WONDERFUL Book!!

I absolutely adore this book! It’s a MUST HAVE for those who work in the ICU! It explains topics such as death, and the beliefs that people have with death. When something such as a code blue, is explained in the book, the reader does it in such a way, that I feel
I’m there! I Have many other reasons for loving this book, but I can only place so many characters! This book is a FAVORITE OF MINE!

Not an easy listen but...

I wanted to stop listening because it was strong material, and the performance was pretty sonorous. It is like a potent tonic that, while distasteful, is necessary for understanding our humanity. I felt that I had to finish it as I needed to understand and deal with a recent loss of a loved one after a terrible and prolonged illness—tough Stuff.